Voters to choose between 3 candidates in District 51 House race
October 21, 2015Races decided in the La. House, Senate, BESE
October 26, 2015
A Houma attorney and a Terrebonne Parish School Board member are challenging incumbent Lenar Whitney in the race to be the State Representative for the 53rd District.
Local attorney Tanner Magee joins school board member Dr. Brenda Leroux Babin in the race for the seat that Whitney has held for one term.
All three candidates touted plans to work to pass legislation regarding the same basic issues: education and coastal restoration. All three said they are confident in their ability to lead District 53, which encompasses the southern reaches of Terrebonne Parish upward, including certain sections of Houma.
Whitney and Magee are Republicans. Dr. Babin is a Democrat.
All three are from Houma.
EROSION LOOMS LARGE
All three candidates talked in-depth about coastal erosion and how restoration efforts are vital to our area’s future.
Each said securing funding for levee and restoration efforts are on top of their to-do lists, if elected.
Whitney said the relationships she’s formed in her first term in office are invaluable, touting that she’s in the best position of any candidate to secure funding for the Morganza-to-the-Gulf project, among other projects.
Whitney said she hears the whispers that she shouldn’t have worked with and formed a working relationship with outgoing Gov. Bobby Jindal on educational reform – a hot-button issue in the state.
But she said that she was able to parlay that alliance into coastal restoration money back home, which, she said, made it all invaluable to our area.
“That alliance engendered so much good will that we obtained disproportionately higher amounts of capital outlay and achieved almost $1 billion of funds for Morganza,” Whitney said.
The incumbent said she also worked hard to keep available money at home.
Whitney said she stays involved in Washington politics so closely so that she can make sure the national government steps in and puts forth an effort to get the remaining $49 billion needed to fully complete the Morganza project.
“Barack Obama could care less about the bayou,” Whitney said. “I am working hard to make sure that the future Republican leadership know all about the bayou.”
Magee challenged Whitney’s talk about being active in Washington politics, saying that the 53rd District has “lost its voice” because of Whitney’s activity in national affairs.
He said, if elected, he would fight tirelessly to get continued funding for coastal restoration efforts, touting that failure to do so would mark a change in our state’s history – and not a change for the better, but rather a change for the worst.
“The voters in District 53 deserve a candidate who’s going to be concerned about Terrebonne Parish and who will be specifically focused on building levees and coastal restoration protection right here at home,” Magee said. “That’s definitely something that’s the main issue in this race. We don’t need a candidate who’s more concerned with Baton Rouge politics. This race is about the local people here.”
Babin also has a lengthy resume in aiding coastal restoration. She’s worked for LUMCON for a decade, a job that required her to monitor the coast. Babin also owns a PhD from Louisiana State University in Oceanography and Coastal Science.
“I’ve studied the coast extensively, and I think I have the background to make good, sound decisions about what needs to be done,” Babin said. “I believe I have the ability to get funding for the right projects – those that protect our homes and our community and our way of life here.”
Like Whitney and Magee, Babin said keeping up with the money trail to continue getting dollars for local projects is huge. Babin said the current master plan in place is sound – a plan that aims to complete Morganza and then restore areas of our coast that have since washed away. The master plan also includes a resilience component, which involves redesigning local homes, schools and community buildings so that they’ll be built more able to withstand dangerous weather events.
“The master plan is fine,” Babin said. “The problem is that we don’t have funding for the master plan right now. We need to make sure that all of the funds coming from BP and other dollars that are set aside from different projects continue to come into this area so that our coastal restoration efforts can continue to be met.”
EDUCATION A MAJOR ISSUE IN ELECTION CAMPAIGNING
Each candidate also heavily emphasized education as a critical cog in their respective campaigns.
Babin said a recent LSU poll showed that education is the No. 1 issue voters are concerned with in the upcoming elections.
She said that her 30 years of experience in the field as both a former classroom teacher and now school board member are what makes her a qualified candidate to rectify those issues in Baton Rouge.
The fix to the state’s educational problem, Babin said is simple: “We need to allow teachers to teach.”
She said that she’s learned during her time with the school board that a lot of the key educational decisions that affect local children are made by representatives in Baton Rouge.
Babin added that she wants to work to support the state’s public educational system – something that she feels she’s most qualified to do of anyone in the race.
“Education has to be looked at again and again and again until we get it right,” Babin said. “The decisions that impact our kids locally every day come from the State Legislature. I think my experience and my background are why I’m a really good candidate to go to Baton Rouge and help solve those problems in education that we have.”
Magee agrees that education is key, though he thinks the issue is deeper rooted and needs more drastic reform.
He said he’d like to see constitutional change in Louisiana’s constitution so that lawmakers can change the ways that the state makes its budget.
Currently, health care and education are the two segments of the budget where funding can be cut to make ends meet. Magee said he’d love to fix that so that process so that education could stay with adequate funding in down economic times.
“We need to be supporting our educators and supporting our teachers,” Magee said. “Somewhere along the line, we’ve lost track of that, and it needs to be fixed.”
Magee also challenged Whitney’s voting record, saying that she and other local representatives have “voted against teachers” repeatedly in the past several years.
“We should have had a representative in this district vote for the cost of living adjustment for retired teachers,” Magee said. “The incumbent voted against it. She’s not done her best in supporting education. Our area needs to change that.”
But Whitney said her record in supporting education is pristine. She said that her re-election campaign consists of a five-plank foundation and that education is one of those planks.
Whitney pointed to several victories local education scored in her first-term, touting that more would be soon to follow if she’s re-elected.
“I emphasized the need to expand Fletcher, which we did,” she said.
Whitney also touted her position on the Ways and Means Committee and on the Joint Capital Outlay Committee, which, she said, has influenced and pushed dollars toward the area.
“We were able to secure $4 million of funding to match a BP grant that created the $8 million Integrated Production Technology Center at Fletcher,” she said. “We were very successful at collecting more than our fair share of State Capital Outlay.”
Whitney also said that she, too, would like to see reform in Louisiana’s budgeting process.
“The state is broke,” she said. “We are facing year over year deficits. We must address statutory and constitutionally guaranteed departments and programs to bring the entire budget under the knife of responsible fiscal policy.”
FINAL PITCH
At the end of each interview, The Times asked all three candidates to speak to readers directly regarding why they wish to be considered for election.
Below are each candidate’s answer, beginning in alphabetical order by last name.
Babin: “My primary reason for running is because I want to represent our people and our concerns. I want to bring our voice to Baton Rouge. I believe I was gifted with a listening ear and a representing voice. I want to lend my voice to the people of District 53 and bring our needs to Baton Rouge.”
Magee: “We need some new people and some new faces in government. That will bring us some of the new ideas that we need. I am the only person in this race who is not an elected official. We need people who know how to fight, but also know how to work with people. Terrebonne Parish needs people who will go to Baton Rouge and bring back funding on the projects we need. We need money for our levees. We need money for our coastal restoration projects. We need someone not worried about the Baton Rouge lobbyists.”
Whitney: “When I ran for office 4 years ago, I said I would advance coastal restoration, fight against new taxes, cut the budget and help improve education, especially technical school instruction. I kept my word. More money came home to the 53rd District for Coastal Restoration than to any district in history, I voted against every new tax and I voted to cut the budget whenever a common sense cut was presented. As a member of the critical Joint Capital Outlay Committee, I made sure that Fletcher Technical College received important, new monies. I was the first Legislator to fight against Common Core. I did all of this while keeping true to my conservative philosophy. I did not compromise. We all won.”
